


Timeless

by lost_lunar_wolf



Series: Sp00ky Season [3]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Ancient Greece, Ancient History, Ancient Rome, Angst, Any historical inaccuracy blame my 9th grade world history teacher, BAMF Peter Parker, Fluff, Gen, Happy Ending, His name in Greek is Petros, Historical AU, Immortal Peter Parker, Immortality, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is Greek in this, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Time Travel, Time Traveler and Immortal, Time traveler Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Is a Good Bro, Tony is known as Antonius, but I mean like their regular powers, only a little though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:08:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26809393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lost_lunar_wolf/pseuds/lost_lunar_wolf
Summary: “I never have asked you how and when, exactly, did you figure out that you’re immortal?”“Well I have never asked you how you figured out I lived in Athens in the first place.”  Peter shot back with a slight grin.  “Answer for an answer?”“Answer for an answer.”ORThe Irondad time traveler and immortal AU that nobody asked for.  Peter doesn’t remember the first time he saw Antonius (Tony as he called himself), it was well over 2000 years ago at this point, but the first time he met Antonius, well that was a memory that would never leave him.  No matter how long he lived.  Because that was the memory that changed his life forever.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Sp00ky Season [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950130
Comments: 15
Kudos: 194





	Timeless

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhh I'm posting this so late so I'm sorry!! But I had so much fun writing this AU because I've had this idea for awhile but never wrote it until now. It would've been done sooner, but I'm the idiot who thought starting this at midnight the night before I post would be a good idea. Also a lot more research went into this than what I thought I needed, I even pulled out my 9th grade world history notes and I apologize for any historical inaccuracies.
> 
> The prompt for today was this piece of dialogue: “how and when, exactly, did you figure out that you’re immortal?” 
> 
> Also I've included some of my favorite points in history so yay! And one more thing Peter refers to Tony as Antonius in this fic because of the time period he is from, it's explained in the fic, but yeah. Also Peter's name in Greek is Petros, which is why he is referred as that sometimes, again it's explained.
> 
> Oh yeah and because I forgot: *** means a time skip and <\---> means a flashback

As Peter sat on the broken pillar on top of the Acropolis, he allowed himself to let his mind think deeply about memories he refused to think about for years, as today was the day he’d see him for the first time since New York, so it was okay to think back. Peter doesn’t remember the first time he saw Antonius (Tony as he called himself), it was well over 2000 years ago at this point, but the first time he met Antonius, well that was a memory that would never leave him. No matter how long he lived. Because that was the memory that changed his life forever. 

<\--->

It was obvious from the first time Peter saw Antonius that he didn’t belong. He wasn’t sure what exactly it was that gave it away, but something was off, he knew that much. Maybe it was the way he looked to be in awe every time Peter saw him, as if he had never seen that location in person before, or maybe it was the fact his clothes looked too new. But it didn’t matter, he knew from that point on, he could never interact with Antonius, it would only give him away, and nobody could know, not about this.

***

“My apologies sir.” Peter said when he accidentally bumped shoulders with someone in the market. Even though he knew he wasn’t the cause of the accident and was the one who dropped all of his belongings he still apologized, it was a habit now.

“Nonsense,” The man said, already going to help Peter pick up his stuff and Peter froze, he recognized that voice. “That was entirely my fault.”

Peter rushed to pick up the rest of his items and hastily took the few things of his the man had grabbed out of his hands. “Apologies, I must be going now.”

Peter tried his best to avoid any sort of eye contact as he started walking the other way begging, _praying_ for the man to leave. Just as he thought he was in the clear a hand took hold of his right wrist. He struggled for a moment trying to pull his hand out of the grasp, but instead Peter was turned so he was facing the man.

“You look familiar.” The man said and Peter pulled his wrist one more time now that the man was distracted.

Managing to get it free from the hold he brought his hands close to his chest to ensure they didn’t get grabbed again. 

“I must have a familiar face then.” Peter said, trying his best to keep the panic out of his voice.

In an instant Peter turned on his heel, quickly making his way as far from that man as he could.

It had been years since Peter saw him last. If he remembered correctly it was around the time King John was forced to sign the Magna Carta, when he saw the man last, in England, which was about 75 years ago if he counted correctly. So what was he doing here? Back in Italia? Back in Rome? Why was he here? What reason did he have to be here? To Peter it seemed like the man was following him everywhere he went. 

He first started taking notice of this man around the time he first left Greece, his home. It was over the course of his last sessions working under Socrates with Plato, when he started to take notice of the man staring, studying the Acropolis, specifically the Parthenon, in awe, like he had never seen it before. Which was weird because based on how the man looked he should’ve been there when it’s construction was completed, just over a decade prior. Nobody had even moved to Athens within that decade, and Peter had never seen him before, and he knew everyone in town, so he knew something was off, but was unable to place his finger on it. The last time Peter saw him in Greece was when he noticed the man's clothing. His tunic and cloak didn’t look the right material, and it looked too... new. That was when Peter knew he had to leave. He wasn’t sure what it was about the man, and though Peter didn’t get bad auroras from him, he knew he had to leave.

And since then Peter would see him every so often. Sometimes as frequent as multiple times in a decade, other times he would go centuries without seeing him. But his voice, Peter managed to hear his voice only twice, and that first time was all it took for that voice to be embedded within his head forever. At least he had heard it twice, until now. Now it was three times and at this point Peter was sure, he was absolutely sure that man was somehow following him. But how? That was the question that plagued Peter’s mind. How was this man following him? As far as Peter knew, he was the only one of his kind. But the man, the man appeared one day, which maybe meant he was the same as Peter. No- no he couldn’t be, his clothes, the way he talked, it was right, but it was wrong at the same time. The clothes were always too new and he spoke as if attempting to remember what to say, as if he was unsure of what he was saying. And that, that made Peter believe he wasn’t the same, but he was odd still. The man, he was out of place, he didn’t belong, which made Peter curious in a way he hasn’t been in a long time, but with that curiosity there was always risk, then again what was it his old mentor would always say? _The unexamined life is not worth living._ That’s right, that’s what he would say to Peter and Plato every day in lessons. Hell Peter had all the time in the world, so what was stopping him? If he had all this time, then why would he not examine it? If he had all this time, then he wanted it to be worth it right?

Peter turned around and hoped the man was still there, but to Peter’s misfortune he was gone, and who knew how long it would be before Peter saw him again. 

With a sigh, Peter turned back, walking in the direction of the manor. Maybe it was a good thing though, that Peter didn’t say something to the man. What would he even say? ‘Hi I’m Petros’ no it was Peter now. ‘Hi I’m Peter’, that name still sat weird on his tongue, ‘I started noticing you almost 1700 years ago back in Athens and I’ve seen you around over the past 1700 years, but I just now decided to say hi'. Yeah that one probably wouldn’t go over well with anyone. So yeah, maybe it was a good thing, it gave him time to think.

***

Peter didn’t go as long without seeing the man this time, only about 50 years or so. He was in Sicily this time, sitting on a cliffside overlooking the ocean, and to Peter, Sicily seemed like such an odd place to be unless there was a reason to be there.

Even though it had been 50 years since he last saw the man, he looked the exact same, then again so did Peter. And even though he has had 50 years to think about what he would say to the man he still didn’t know what the right thing to say would be. He didn’t know the right way to even approach the man. So he pretended to be admiring the view from a distance while he worked up the courage to say something.

“You’re a hard person to find.” The man spoke eventually, and Peter had to do a double take to make sure there wasn’t anyone else the man could be talking to. “Yes I’m talking to you.”

Peter slowly approached the man so he was standing next to where the man was sitting. He didn’t say anything at first, unsure of what to say.

“So you have been following me.” Peter finally decided on saying.

“I guess that depends on how you look at it.” The man said. “Though after all my searching, I still have been unable to find your real name.”

Peter tried to hold back a wince. It had been so long since someone had called him by his real name. With every new location, came a new name. With every new name, came a new identity. With every new identity, came a new life. With every new life, came a forgotten life that was added to his memories. But his name, his real name, the name that came from his real life, his original life, that was the one life, the one identity, the one name, the one location he would never forget. But it was the one life he couldn’t ever bring back.

“Maybe there’s a reason for that.” Peter said eventually.

“There’s a reason for everything I guess.” The man stated with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Does that mean there’s a reason why you’re following me?”

“Like I said, there’s a reason for everything.”

“Can I ask for your reason then?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” The man scoffed, and Peter felt weird calling him the man now, but he didn’t have a name to go by, so the man would have to do.

“It’s my life.” Peter said having to force that last bit out. “I think I deserve to know.”

“I don’t need to explain my reasoning.” 

“No you’re right, you don’t have to.” Peter concluded. “But because this is a matter of my existence, I do request once again, to know your reasoning.”

“What’s your name?” The man asked, ignoring Peter’s request.

“Matthias.” Peter answered.

That was the name he was going by these days, at least has been for about the last 10 years. It was bound time he changed it anyway, so why not give it up. What was there to lose at this point? 

“But that’s not your real name.” The man pointed out.

“I guess not. What’s your name?” 

“I go by Tony.”

“Short for Antony.” Peter said.

“Technically Anthony, but yes.”

“With Latin and Greek origin from the name Antonius meaning priceless one in Greek.”

“I guess.” Antonius said with a shrug of his shoulder. “I thought the name was Roman.”

“Which comes from Latin. Many think Roman because of Marcus Antonius.” Peter explained. 

“You mean Mark Antony?”

“Who?”

“I guess it hasn’t been shortened yet huh.” Antonius said with a laugh. Peter only gave Antonius a questioning look, still not understanding him completely. “Look kid-”

“I’m not a kid.”

“Sorry, but look you’ve shown up in thousands of photos and drawings over the years, usually somewhere in the background, so I gotta know, are there others like you?”

“Others like me?” Peter questioned. “You mean you’re not like me?”

“No I’m not, but are there others who are immortal?”

“Immortal?”

“Everlasting, eternal living, unable to die, however you want to say it.”

“Then no, I don’t think so.” Peter answered.

Peter heard a beeping noise from Antonius’ person and the man let out a sigh. “I have to go kid, and I can’t come back for at least 20 years, but try to stay isolated for that time if you can.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know exactly how your immortality works, but things are going to get bad here within the next 5 or 6 years.” Antonius said as he stood up and tapped a-a thing on his wrist.

“What are you?” Peter asked not sure whether to be intrigued or horrified. 

“I’ll explain next time. Meet me in Florence in about 20 years.” Antonius said and the next thing Peter knew Antonius was gone, as if he was never even there.

What was happening?

***

For some reason, for which Peter was unable to explain, he listened to Antonius’ advice and for the most part tried to stay isolated. This plague, known as the Black Death spread around all of Europe, there wasn’t a place that Peter knew that wasn’t affected. Peter found out that he could become sick with this plague, and technically he would die, but he always came back to life.

So, he tried to help those who he could, wherever he was, but after the 9th or 10th time of getting infected in 4 years, he isolated himself on the Greek island of Kos. It wasn’t until about 4 years later that he heard news of the disease being gone and another year he waited on the island just to be sure. Peter headed back to Italia after that and worked his way to Florence where Antonius said he would meet him in about 20 years. That was almost 16 years in the past by the time he did make it to Florence.

Now though, it had been just about 20 years and Peter was starting to understand why Antonius told him to go to Florence. Everything was changing and it no longer was the dark and gloomy place where he lived centuries before. People wanted to learn again, ideas that his mentors and fellow scholars in Greece came up with were coming back, and this life began to have some sort of purpose again. 

Though the tragedy of the black death was still in the wake, Peter did gain some wealth because of it. A man who Peter cared for on Kos gave Peter his fortune as he had no one else to give it to. The man, Kaz, told Peter to make good with his life if the Black Death were to ever cease. So Peter wanted to grant Kaz’s wish.

Peter was in the marketplace for his weekly run of food and supplies. He had managed to get a job as a scribe at a local shop, as well as find a home to live in for the time being.

“Excuse me sir.” Someone said tapping Peter on the shoulder.

Without turning around, Peter already knew who it was and quickly gave the person running the stand he was at, a few coins.

“Antonius.” Peter said as he turned around and started waking, hoping Antonius would get the message to follow.

“It’s Tony.” Antonius corrected.

Peter didn’t say anything as they walked out of the market square and still didn’t say anything until they reached Peter’s home.

“It’s Antonius here.” Peter assured. “I wait 20 years, I die about 10 times, and I listened and came here, so please explain to me, _Antonius_ , what I’m doing here, what you’re doing here and what you are.”

“I’m here because I have questions for you.” Antonius said, only answering one of Peter’s questions.

“And why should I answer them?”

“Because you seem lonely.” Antonius bargained, causing Peter to freeze.

What right did Antonius have to say that to him? Sure he had seen Antonius spontaneously for the past 1800 years or so, but that doesn’t mean he knows Peter, or deserves to know about him. 

“Have you ever wondered why that might be?” Peter countered. “Because last I checked, 20 years ago, you knew I was immortal. So let me ask, what’s changed between then and now? Why would I be lonely now and not then?”

“Nothing has changed, that’s the thing. You’re still immortal which means you stay somewhere for a short period of time before leaving so you don’t raise suspicion.”

“And what makes you think that could ever change?” He argued trying not to raise his voice. Clearly his people skills were on the lacking side.

“Because I can make that change.” Antonius claimed.

“How could _you_ make that change?” Peter spat.

“Because I’m a time traveler!”

Peter’s face scrunched up at those words. “A what?”

“Time traveler.” Antonius repeated.

“What is that?”

“It means I’m able to travel to different points of time in the past.” The man explained. 

“What do I have anything to do with this?” Peter questioned.

“Because you’ve been alive since Ancient Greece was around.”

“I still don’t see your point.”

“I’ve followed you through time since 402 BC, it’s now 1360 AD-”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I’ve been following you for close to 1800 years and you have only connected with very few people since then.” Antonius said as if Peter didn’t already know this information. 

“I know how long it’s been and who I’ve connected with.” Peter snapped moving more into Antonius’ space. “I mean that BC and AD letters you’re saying.”

“It’s just a way to measure time. BC is the time Before Christ, and AD Anno Domini or the time after Christ was born.” Antonius explained somehow managing to keep his voice calm. “I’m telling you that I can help you.”

“Help me how? We’ve talked twice and met three times, so what makes you think you can help me?” Peter retorted, and he took a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

“I can help you not be lonely.” Antonius said softly, with a sense of caring in his voice that Peter had never heard before.

Why would Antonius want to help him? Especially since Peter had flat out avoided him for 1500 years. Peter took another deep breath, trying his best to suppress the emotions that were trying to come out.

“Petros.” He said eventually. 

“What?” Antonius asked, seemingly confused with what Peter just said.

“My name.” He uttered. “My name is Petros, but it would be Peter today.”

“Which do you prefer?”

“I don’t know.” Peter admitted. “Because I’ve never technically gone by Peter and I haven’t gone by Petros since I left Athens for the first time.” 

Admitting that was harder than Peter thought it would be. Antonius wasn’t wrong though, he was lonely, and maybe- maybe Antonius would be able help him. 

***

Peter saw Antonius a few times since their meeting in Florence 125 years ago. It was 1485 now and Peter hadn’t seen Antonius for almost 10 years (though now in Italia, Antonio was becoming common so Peter had switched to calling him that (except he had been calling Antonius Papa more often than not, which he refused to admit)), but today they were supposed to meet near the outskirts of Milan so Peter could show him where he’s been living the for past few years. Peter walked out of his place of work and quickly made his way to meet Antonius. And when he neared their meeting spot he picked up the pace already seeing Antonius waiting.

“Papa!” Peter exclaimed running up to Antonius giving him a hug.

“Pietro how are you my boy?” Antonius asked, returning the hug.

“I’m good. I found a job with a very nice man working as an engineer.”

“That’s great to hear. What’s his name, I may have heard of him.”

“Da Vinci. Leonardo Da Vinci.” Peter told him.

“I leave for 10 years and you’re Leonardo Da Vinci’s protege now!” Antonius exclaimed.

“Yeah.” Peter said unsure why Antonius was so excited. “Is he famous or something?”

“Very famous!”

“That’s cool. I’m not in the records right?”

“As far as I know you’re in the clear here.”

“Good.” Peter confided. “Because I like it here Papa.”

***

Peter froze his eyes widening when he heard someone clear their throat behind him.

“Whatcha doing in France Pierre?” The person asked.

“Heyyy Papa.” Peter said slowly, turning to face Antonius.

“I’ll ask again, what are you doing in France during Robespierre’s rule, when I specifically told you this was the one place you can’t go in this time period.”

“Ever heard of The Scarlet Pimpernel?” Peter asked.

Antonius sighed and shook his head. “Of course that’s you.”

***

Peter sprinted through the streets of Nazi Germany trying evade the inevitable capture that was to come with the Gestapo not far behind him. He took another sharp corner and as he did he was pulled into the shadows of a nearby alley. His first instinct was to scream but a hand covered his mouth and a voice whispered in his ear.

“It’s me Peter.” 

_Antonius_. Peter let himself relax against Antonius’ body as he heard the footsteps of the Gestapo race by their alleyway. When they were both certain the Gestapo were gone, Antonius removed his hand from Peter’s mouth and Peter turned around and pulled Antonius into a hug.

“Papa, what are you doing here?” Peter whispered.

“I got word that a little Greek spider I know is currently acting as a Russian spy.” Antonius answered.

“I help where I can Papa.”

“Does it have to be so dangerous though?”

“I can’t die Papa, so go big or go home am I right?”

Antonius let out a quiet sigh of frustration. “Sometimes child, I swear your heart is too good.”

“I’m sorry Papa.” Peter rested his head on Antonius’ chest.

“There’s nothing to apologize for, just be careful alright, but don’t stop helping as many people as you can.”

“I’ll be careful I promise Papa.”

He felt Antonius slide a piece of paper into one of his pockets then pressed a kiss to the top of his head. Peter knew a date and location would be on that paper.

“Be careful Peter, I love you.” Antonius said.

“I love you too Papa.”

***

Peter had seen Antonius a few times since their run in, in Germany, but none of those meet ups had been the date and location Antonius gave him that day in Germany. He was in New York now, has been for about a month, that’s where Antonius said to meet. His English was a bit rusty from not using the language much, as at this day in age he tended to stick with Italian or French, but frequently used many of the European languages, but his English was good enough to get by. The last time he used English as a primary language was back in the late 1950s, it was July of 1969 now. Peter had watched the Apollo 11 spaceship launch 4 days ago and today was the day he was supposed to meet Antonius. He wondered if that was the reason Antonius wanted to meet today, to watch the moon landing.

The fact that humans were now attempting to land on the moon was insane to Peter. He got to see first hand people inventing catapults and lead sheathing for ships and now he was watching humans as they flew into space. It seemed like just yesterday he was with Da Vinci helping design the flying machine, and now Peter got to see all different variations of it. He couldn’t help but wish that his old mentor was here to see what his ideas developed into.

Peter pulled out the paper that Antonius had given him over 25 years ago checking the address to make sure he was at the right place before walking inside. He scanned the inside of the cafe and made his way to the table he saw Antonius sitting at in the corner. Antonius stood up when he saw Peter and gave the boy a hug.

“I missed you Papa.” Peter said unable to wipe the smile off his face.

“I missed you too Peter.” Antonius said. “Sit, sit, you must be hungry.”

They caught up over dinner, Peter telling Antonius about the trip he took to Norway a few months ago, along with how life had been since they saw each other last. When they finished dinner they walked through the city talking some more before ultimately stopping in front of a set of televisions that were placed in windows to watch the attempt at landing on the moon. 

“I’ve never been able to watch this live before.” Antonius spoke in Greek, and Peter assumed to make sure others couldn’t understand them

“How many times have you watched it?” Peter asked following Antonius’ lead by speaking in Greek.

“Too many to count, but I was obsessed with it for the longest time.”

So that’s what they did, they watched the moon landing live on a television in a window on the streets of New York City. They cheered with the rest of the crowd when Neil Armstrong stepped off of the lunar module and Peter had to keep himself from crying at the sight. 

“You okay buddy?” Antonius asked in Greek when he noticed Peter getting emotional.

Peter only managed to nod unsure if he could keep himself from crying if he spoke.

When the crowd dispersed and the excitement had died down a bit, Peter and Antonius found themselves at the top of the Empire State Building.

“I hate to ruin this day for you Petros, but I have something to tell you.” Antonius said, and Peter automatically knew it was serious because Antonius only ever used his real name if it was serious.

But Peter already suspected what Antonius was going to say he was waiting for this day to come.

“You can’t see me anymore can you?” Peter asked, trying his best to hold back the tears that threatened to fall.

“Not for awhile. I’m sorry buddy.” Antonius said and wrapped an arm around Peter’s shoulders pulling him closer. 

“Was it something I did?” Peter asked, because he had to have done something for Antonius to not want to see him, right?

“No no, buddy, it wasn’t anything you did.” He reassured. “With time travel, I can’t travel to a time where I’m alive.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that technically my lifetime starts next year, so during that time and up until my present time I can’t see you.”

“So I can see you again?” Peter asked looking up at Antonius with hopeful eyes.

“Yeah you can.” Antonius assured and handed Peter a box. “In here is the date, time and location for when we can meet. There’s a few other notes in there for you as well. The meeting is after the turn of the century, but you can open it anytime you want.” 

“How long until you have to go back?”

“I have a few more hours, so we can do whatever you want until then.”

Peter and Antonius left the Empire State Building not long after and made their way to Central Park. Antonius showed Peter some of his favorite spots to visit as a child as they walked through the park.

“It’s crazy how far things have come in the past centuries.” Peter started, letting out a small chuckle. “And we’re the only ones who’ve seen it change in person”

“That is pretty cool isn’t it.” Antonius agreed.

The two walked for a while longer and somehow managed to make it to the Brooklyn Bridge. Peter knew their time together was coming close to an end as they stood on the bridge staring out over the water.

“I heard about this when it was being built.” Peter spoke up, breaking the silence. “I think I was in Spain the first time I heard rumors about it.”

“Out of all the places you’ve been, where’s your favorite?” Antonius asked him.

Peter thought for a few moments before answering. “I like them all for different reasons.” He said honestly. “But I think, even after 2000 years, Athens is still my favorite. I haven’t gone back in a while though, so I’ll probably do that some point even if it’s only for a short time.”

Peter wasn’t sure if it was talking about his home for the first time in years, or hearing the beep from Antonius’ watch, but he couldn’t hold in his emotions any longer and finally let the tears fall as he buried his face into Antonius’ chest.

“It’ll be okay Petros.” Antonius said rubbing small circles on Peter’s back.

“I love you Papa.” Peter said holding on a bit tighter.

“I love you too Petros.” Antonius reassured, and pressed a kiss to the top of Peter’s head. “I promise I will meet you exactly where it says on that note. You’ll be okay until then alright?”

“Okay.” Peter said as he slowly pulled away from the hug. “I love you Papa.”

“I love you too.”

Peter watched as Antonius disappeared once again as if he were never there at all. When Peter was sure he was alone he let himself collapse to the ground, clutching the package tight against his chest as he sobbed. He was alone again. 

<\--->

It was hard after seeing Antonius or hearing from Antonius at so many random points in time, to not see or hear from him for over 40 years. A long time ago, well a thousand or so years ago, going well over 100 years without seeing Antonius was normal. But now, now he just felt alone. More alone than he’s felt in years. He still didn’t completely understand why Antonius couldn’t meet him, but he was unfamiliar with the technology, so he knew he had to trust Antonius that there was a reason for it. 

About 10 or so years after they last met Peter finally got around to opening the package Antonius had given him. He knew there would be a location and time, Antonius had told him that much, and he knew it wouldn’t be until after the turn of the century when they would be able to meet. Inside the package were two notes, a booklet Antonius called a passport, an airplane ticket, and a few other small gifts. The one note explained what the passport was, why it was needed, and when he could start using it without raising suspicion. Along with this, it told him exactly when and where to go to be able to use the airplane ticket. Antonius had also wished him the best for the years to come and gave a few locations where he could check up on Antonius if he wanted. The only problem was, he couldn’t interact because that Antonius wouldn’t know who Peter was and there was always the risk of messing up the future. (Again Peter was confused but didn’t question it). He did go to some of those locations just to keep an eye on Antonius, but Peter knew he would be fine.

The second note was a date and location, that’s where he is now. In Athens, on the Acropolis, at the Parthenon, on August 10th 2010, close to sunset. It was so different now, the Parthenon, hell even the Acropolis itself, the hill the Parthenon sat on was so different. The Parthenon was practically in ruins, threatening to fall apart at any moment, but it was still the same one that was completed when he was a child. 

He sat on one of the broken pillars that was on the landscape behind the structure, as he waited for Antonius. Thoughts of doubt filled his head the longer he waited. What if Antonius forgot? Would Antonius even want to see him? How long has it been for Antonius since they last saw each other? Peter pulled himself out of his thoughts when he heard footsteps come up next to him.

“How many years has it been since we last saw each other here?” The person asked, and Peter practically threw himself into the person’s arms when he heard the voice, _Antonius, Papa_. “I missed you too Petros.”

Peter tried to hold back the tears that were forming in his eyes, but quickly gave up knowing it wasn’t a battle he would win. “I missed you, Papa.”

“I know, it’s okay, I’m here.” Antonius whispered as he ran his fingers through Peter’s messy curls.

“I thought you forgot.” Peter whispered.

“I would never forget.”

Peter slowly pulled away from the hug and wiped his tears. They stood silent for a moment, but then Peter spoke. “To answer your question it’s been just over 2000 years since I saw you here last.”

“I figured it was something like that.” Antonius said. “It’s funny. I saw you over the years when I was growing up. I thought for the longest time that it was just a doppelganger, but then as I got older I realized it was the same person. Peter you’re the reason I invented time travel in the first place.”

“Well you’re the reason I didn’t spend the last 700 years completely alone.” Peter confessed. “So thanks for inventing time travel.” 

“You know,” Antonius started as he sat down on one one the pillars next to the one where Peter was sitting. Peter sat down on his again. “I never have asked you how and when, exactly, did you figure out that you’re immortal?”

“Well I have never asked you how you figured out I lived in Athens in the first place.” Peter shot back with a slight grin. “Answer for an answer?”

“Answer for an answer.”

“It all started during what you guys now know as the Peloponnesian War-”

<\--->

When Petros was born, his home land of Athens had been at war with Sparta for almost 6 years. Although everyone knew Athens was better at fighting on sea, they still worked to build up their land army. Living in a war state, Petros learned from a young age to do what he had to do in order to protect himself, so when he was old enough to start training on his own, that’s what he did. Petros wasn’t good with spears or bow and arrow, but he was inspired by the stories his mother told him of Pheidippides running far to warn Athens. So, he taught himself to scale buildings and cliff sides and to run far and fast, so he could warn his people quickly if the Spartans ever attempted to invade. It was the best way for him to help. His people nicknamed him ‘αράχνη’ (pronounced: aráchni) or Spider. It wasn’t an uncommon sight for people to see Petros scaling the sides of the Acropolis to get a closer view of the Parthenon construction.

The first time Petros vividly remembered the Spartans invading he was 12, and he was able to successfully warn his people of the oncoming threat which led to the Athenians victory. For years Petros was able to successfully protect his people by warning them of incoming enemies. However, 3 years later, Petros wasn’t so lucky.

While spying on the incoming Spartans, Petros had been spotted and the next thing he knew, he was falling from the mountain side with an arrow lodged in his left shoulder. _This is it_ he thought as the ground became closer and closer _and nobody will ever know_. When he hit the ground at full force, all he saw was darkness.

***

When Petros came to, he could see the full moon looming over him. He wasn’t sure if he was even alive considering he was in no pain and for that he wondered if Thanatos, the god of death, had taken him. But he could hear the sound of insects and trees blowing in the wind, which made him wonder if Cerberus had taken pity and sent him back to the land of the living.

It took a few moments, but when Petros stood up he still felt no pain and for that he thanked Zeus. On the ground next to him was the arrow that had lodged itself in his shoulder who knows how long before, and that was surrounded by a pool of blood. Petros could feel the hole in his clothing from the arrow and tears from when he hit the ground, but on his skin besides the dried blood, there were no signs of trauma. 

Though Petros wished he could dwell on this for longer, he knew he had to get back to Athens to warn his people of the imminent threat of attack. Petros felt his clothing for his hidden dagger and let out a sigh of relief to find it was still there. He picked up the arrow and stored it next to his dagger then covered up the blood soaked area with some of the surrounding brush. Taking a deep breath Petros looked up the cliff side. There is no being scared, he told himself as he took hold of one of the rocks, this was for his people, not himself. And so, he climbed.

***

It was a 2 day journey back to Athens from where Petros fell, not including the unknown amount of time he was unconscious. When Petros breached the top of a hill that overlooked Athens, he was thankful to not find his city in ruins. He quickly made his way down the hill and to his home. Petros practically slammed the door open and let out a breath of relief to find his mother cooking.

“Mama.” Petros breathed and rushed forward engulfing her in a hug.

“Petros! You’re okay!” She said, returning the gesture. “When you didn’t come back we knew something was amidst and prepared for an attack. Luckily our men were fortunate enough to get the Spartans to retreat before any real damage could be done.”

“How long was I gone Mama?” Petros asked.

“10 days.” His mother answered.

Petros concluded he had to have been unconscious for at least 5 or so days, but the question most prominent in his mind, how did he manage to survive?

<\--->

“I was 15 at the time and I haven’t aged since.” Peter said. “Many of my people believed that I was blessed by Aphrodite with eternal beauty for saving Athens that year, but I was quick to realize it, my immortality, went much deeper than blessings.”

It was well past sunset now, the only light source being the moon and the lights coming from inside the Parthenon.

“So what happened after that?” Antonius asked when Peter finished telling his story.

“Well there was another incident about 2 years after that, which was when I figured out that I was unable to die. That was when I decided to stay out of the war as much as I could to not raise suspicion.” He explained. “So around a year later was when Plato and I started studies under Socrates. We continued those studies until his forced death about 8 years later. I started to notice you towards the end of my studies under Socrates, but I believe you were there some other time within those 8 years as well.” 

“You disappeared after Socrates' death.” 

“I traveled with Plato and some others for a few years. When they all moved onto Sicily I claimed to enjoy the southern parts of Italia we were in and wanted to stay. They continued to travel and I moved onto Rome. I didn’t go back to Greece until I received word of Plato's death and even then I only went back long enough to pay my respects and meet his protege Aristotle, before moving on again.”

“Then where were you between then and the time of Julius Caesar?” Antonius asked.

“Wait you mean, I actually didn’t see you again for over 350 years, I didn’t miss you at all?” Peter questioned, unable to contain the shock spreading onto his face.

“Yeah like I said you disappeared after the death of Socrates then I couldn’t find you again until a few months before Caesar’s assassination.”

Peter stifled a laugh. “I would say that I tried hard to avoid any evidence of me during that time, but I’m gonna be honest most everything was destroyed when Alexander the Great took over, then after that there were just a lot of wars so it was pretty easy to keep myself out of records.”

“Are you laughing because it was easy or something else?”

“Well I may have been indirectly involved in Caesar’s assassination, but it was an accident.” Peter tried explaining with a straight face but failed.

“How was it an accident?” Antonius asked, clearly confused by Peter’s answer.

“I was talking with one of the senator's brothers, but I didn’t know that at the time. Anyway he was complaining about how much his brother hated Caesar, and I said if you don’t like him so much why don’t you just stab him. I didn’t think anything of that until a few months later when he was stabbed to death in the senate, that was when I decided I should leave Rome for a bit.”

“The fact that doesn’t surprise me is slightly alarming.” Antonius laughed, shaking his head. 

“Yeah okay I get it, that was kind of a dumb thing to say on my part.” Peter said holding his hands up in surrender. “But I told my story, so what about yours?”

“Mine’s really short, but pretty much what happened was in my studies of ancient world history class in college, there was a story from ancient Athens that told of someone known as The Spider, and how he disappeared around 408 BC. Then there was another story of the boy known as The Spider and how after he saved the Athenians many times from the Spartans, he was blessed with eternal beauty.” Antonius told him. “There were a few paintings of this boy, then there were a few others from closer to the turn of the century that had the same boy in the background of paintings with Socrates and Plato. Every time I looked at them I thought you looked so familiar. Then I would think that I saw you in real life and I’d look again and you were gone. It wasn’t until I saw the painting around the time of Caesar’s assassination that I started having theories. Long story short I was pretty certain I was seeing you in real life and in a bunch of paintings throughout history, so I started working on time travel. When I was finally successful, I went to the place where the first painting took place.”

“So you just had a theory, you didn’t even know for sure that I actually existed?”

“When you put it like that, yes, but once I started traveling I realized that you were real, so I followed you as much as I could.”

“And I avoided you as much as I could.” Peter sassed.

“Yes which was very frustrating by the way.” Antonius revealed.

For the rest of the night, Peter and Antonius stayed on top of the Acropolis exchanging stories from some of the events of the past few decades. Peter agreed that when the sun rose he would show Antonius some of the most memorable spots from his life in Athens and they would explore new Athens together.

“So, we know you can travel back in time.” Peter said when the sun started rising. “But can you travel forward?”

“I guess there’s only one way to find out?”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for reading I had so much fun writing this!! If you want me to write any specific time period of these two let me know because honestly I'd love to do one-shots of a bunch of different time periods! Again I apologize for any historical inaccuracies! Also The Scarlet Pimpernel is actually a book (also a movie) that is based on the rumors of a real person, though they have never been identified, but I thought it would be kind of funny to add in. Also I shit you not that is the name of the Greek god of death I didn’t make that up. Come say hi to me on [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/lost-lunar-wolf)!


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